Wednesday, June 12, 2013

May 31 - June 6, 2013 - New York City

New York City - what can I say other than "total awesomeness" (as said by buddy boat, Barefoot'n).  And total awesomeness it was!!  We got an early start out of Atlantic City to make our weather window across the Atlantic and 11 hours later pulled into Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island.

The Harbor Host there was most helpful as we made plans for our first day into NYC with Barefoot'n - he gave us a ride to the train station to catch the Staten Island ferry and even gave us his Metro card to use!  Once in NYC the temperature soared to 93 as we stood in line for the 9/11 Memorial, and toured the Financial District, Chinatown, and Little Italy.  We took the bus back to Staten Island and enjoyed meeting and talking to the members of the GKYC.

 The Staten Island train.
 

 The train took us directly to the ferry station.
 
 Took the ferry to lower Manhattan.
 

Sites from the ferry - the Statue of Liberty and

Lower Manhattan.
 
 
Once off the ferry, we toured Wall Street
 

 and the Financial District.

 Then made our way to ground zero
and the memorial there.
 


 Got to witness this Marine become a Lieutenant Colonel.
 
The Survival Tree
 
Cemetery at a nearby  church that went unharmed during 9/11 attack.
 
 A demonstration was being held regarding a park in Turkey.
 

 Then it was on to Chinatown
 

and Little Italy.
 
More Little Italy...


 Best pizza in Little Italy???
Barefoot'n got burnt pizza and warm beer in a new place only open 3 days...
We thought we were in a fine, generations old establishment....
 
Next up was Soho...

Then took the bus back to Staten Island and Great Kills Yacht Club.
 
 

 Great Kills suffered a lot of damage from Superstorm Sandy last year.
 
They have made a lot of repairs, however, lots of damage still remains.

Sunrise off our stern at Great Kills.
 
Wild swan

 More Superstorm Sandy damage
 

  Said goodbye to GKYC and headed to Liberty Landing Marina across
 from Lower Manhattan to enjoy the view and the ambiance of big city lights at night.
 
Very shallow getting out of Great Kills

New York Harbor is a madhouse! barges, tugs, water taxis, ferries,
not to mention tons of pleasure boats...




 but the view is awesome!



 
 Liberty Landing on the Jersey side
 



Had dinner at Liberty House - was delicious and we got to enjoy
the big city lights! beautiful!






 
 Waved goodbye to Jersey and moved on up the Hudson River to Half Moon Bay.
Sites along the way:
 


 















 Finally, the big city comes to an end
 and the scenery gets beautiful with tall cliffs.

The train from Poughkipsee to NYC.

 
From the Half Moon Bay Marina we took the express train into NYC.
It was a 40 minute train ride with the first stop at Grand Central Terminal.
On the train we met a guy named Chris, who mapped us out a route around
the city to see all the highlights.  He insisted on escorting us through Grand Central
so he could see the look on our faces when we saw the grand hall.
 


Chris escorting us into the grand hall

Celestial ceiling



Our view just outside Grand Central

 Quick tour through Saks where I got a Channel shower.


Rockefeller Center - this is where wintertime skating rink is set up.
 


St Patricks under renovation.







Jeff and Randy get dirty dogs

 Took a quick tour of Trump Tower

 Oooh the shopping opportunities on 5th Avenue....

 Tiffany's window
 Cool Apple store

On to Central Park 

 View of the city from Central Park
 Incredible that this park is in the middle of such a great city.





 Hot dog in the park.
 
 Quick tour of the Time Warner building.
 View of Columbus Circle - taxis circle continuously...
 View of Central Park from a fancy bar in Timer Warner building.
 Enjoyed a $9 beer here.  Jeff says $3 beer and $6 for the view.
 A lady stopped us on the street to take our pic : )
 Stood in line for tickets but only 1 left by the time they got to us.
 Times Square






 Macy's
 Next it was on to the Empire State Building.
where we got a birdseye view of how far the city stretches...











 Then we returned to Grand Central via Park Avenue.
 
 Had dinner at the Oyster Bar while we awaited our train.
 Arrived back at Half Moon Bay just in time for a beautiful sunset.


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